Full Name
Rebecca Ivic
Job Title
Associate Dean of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity; Professor of Health Communication; College of Communication & Information Sciences, The University of Alabama
Company
Senior Editor, Journal of Health Communication
Speaker Bio
Rebecca Ivic is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar in health communication whose research advances the design, delivery, and impact of quality health information in digital, interpersonal, and public health contexts. She is a Professor of Health Communication and Associate Dean of Research in the College of Communication & Information Sciences at the University of Alabama where she leads the College’s research ecosystem—developing strategic infrastructure, mentoring faculty, and expanding externally funded research across disciplines. She is also Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Health Science, College of Human Environmental Science; Affiliate with the Alabama Life Research Institute; Faculty Fellow with the Alabama Life Research Institute; Affiliate with the Cyber Institute; Affiliate Faculty with the Center for Substance Use Research and Related Conditions, and the Alabama Water Institute.
Dr. Ivic’s scholarship examines how individuals and institutions navigate complex health information environments, particularly in patient-provider communication, online communities, in social media contexts, and during public health crises. Her work has addressed HPV communication and promotion, social support networks, and health disparities addressing underserved communities, environmental health threats, with a focus on public campaigns, civic trust, and information equity. She integrates quantiative, qualitative, computational, and network-based methods to analyze how trust, sentiment, and structure shape engagement with health information.
She has secured and led competitive research grants at the state, regional, and federal levels, collaborating with partners including local organizations and state departments of health. Her research has appeared in leading journals such as Health Communication, Journal of Health Communication, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Environmental Communication, Journal of Risk Research.
Dr. Ivic also serves as Senior Editor of the Journal of Health Communication and as Senior Advisor and Co-Secretariat Lead for the Nature Medicine Commission on Quality Health Information for All. In this role, she co-leads an international study spanning multiple countries—including collaborations in Germany, Switzerland, Australia, and other countries—with partners at the CUNY SPH and global health leaders. She is leading a scoping review, ongoing expert interviews and quality health indicator testing and is shaping conceptual and technical frameworks to guide global health information and its recognition for the future of health communication and public health.
In addition to her research and administrative leadership, Dr. Ivic has developed and taught a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses, including Health Communication and Information, Health Communication & Social Influence, Mediated Health, Research Methods, Health and Organizational Communication, and Data Visualization and New Media. She has served on numerous graduate student committees and has been invited to speak on health communication and computational social science at institutions such as the University of Amsterdam, the Institute for Communication and Information Research, South Dakota State University, the Great Plains Writers Conference, and the University of Mississippi, among others.
Dr. Ivic’s scholarship examines how individuals and institutions navigate complex health information environments, particularly in patient-provider communication, online communities, in social media contexts, and during public health crises. Her work has addressed HPV communication and promotion, social support networks, and health disparities addressing underserved communities, environmental health threats, with a focus on public campaigns, civic trust, and information equity. She integrates quantiative, qualitative, computational, and network-based methods to analyze how trust, sentiment, and structure shape engagement with health information.
She has secured and led competitive research grants at the state, regional, and federal levels, collaborating with partners including local organizations and state departments of health. Her research has appeared in leading journals such as Health Communication, Journal of Health Communication, Journal of Medical Internet Research, Environmental Communication, Journal of Risk Research.
Dr. Ivic also serves as Senior Editor of the Journal of Health Communication and as Senior Advisor and Co-Secretariat Lead for the Nature Medicine Commission on Quality Health Information for All. In this role, she co-leads an international study spanning multiple countries—including collaborations in Germany, Switzerland, Australia, and other countries—with partners at the CUNY SPH and global health leaders. She is leading a scoping review, ongoing expert interviews and quality health indicator testing and is shaping conceptual and technical frameworks to guide global health information and its recognition for the future of health communication and public health.
In addition to her research and administrative leadership, Dr. Ivic has developed and taught a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses, including Health Communication and Information, Health Communication & Social Influence, Mediated Health, Research Methods, Health and Organizational Communication, and Data Visualization and New Media. She has served on numerous graduate student committees and has been invited to speak on health communication and computational social science at institutions such as the University of Amsterdam, the Institute for Communication and Information Research, South Dakota State University, the Great Plains Writers Conference, and the University of Mississippi, among others.
Speaking At
